"Hey, my good grandson, why has no one come to visit me lately?"
In the Pijin City Court Prison, Zhou Fugui's cellmate, after devouring a chunk of fatty mutton and taking a sip of fine wine, mumbled to Zhou Fugui, his mouth full of food and drink.
A piece of mutton slipped from the cellmate's teeth, and he remained completely oblivious.
Since Empress Murong Qing of the Great Yan Kingdom visited him, Zhou Fugui's situation in prison had immediately improved. Not only did he have wine and delicacies to eat and drink daily, but he even had dry grass and broken cotton wadding for warmth when he slept. This was a world of difference compared to before, and Zhou Fugui's complexion had improved significantly in just a few days.
His cellmate naturally benefited from this as well. However, the wine and delicacies had slightly decreased in the past few days, so the cellmate, while eating and drinking, asked Zhou Fugui, fearing that the next meal of wine and delicacies would disappear...
"Can't even shut your mouth with delicious food and drink?" Zhou Fugui glared at his cellmate and said, annoyed.
Several days had passed, and Zhou Fugui was still pondering Empress Murong Qing's words, with no mood to eat or drink.
Zhou Fugui barely understood what Empress Murong Qing had said and couldn't fully grasp it. Moreover, her words might even be related to his life and death, so Zhou Fugui had to be extremely cautious.
However, no matter what, his own affairs finally seemed to have a glimmer of hope, Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"Mouths are for speaking, how can they be shut?" The cellmate chuckled, "Who was it who visited you the other day? Was it that person?"
Zhou Fugui had not mentioned Empress Murong Qing's "visit" to this gossip, and neither the jailers nor the guards dared to mention it.
"No..." Zhou Fugui shook his head.
"Oh, then who was it?" the cellmate asked again.
Zhou Fugui shook his head and did not answer.
"I say, my good grandson, if you don't tell me, I won't know?" Zhou Fugui remained silent, but the cellmate spoke to himself, "Old man, I guess it must have been a woman. Hey, good grandson, are you stupid? You're as foolish as a pig! This opportunity presented itself, and you didn't seize it... Huh? You just let her go. How will you answer to King Yama when you get there?"
"Stop, stop, that's enough, stop!" The cellmate's words became more vulgar and inappropriate, and he was slandering someone. So Zhou Fugui hurriedly interrupted him, "What nonsense are you talking about? What do you know? How do you know it was a woman?"
"Her scent was like orchids, graceful and beautiful, making me forget to eat..." The cellmate licked the fatty mutton and wine from his lips and chuckled, "Do you think my nose is just for show? When she returned, she brought a strong fragrance."
"Smelling the fragrance to know it's a woman, you truly have a dog's nose!" Zhou Fugui was speechless and said, annoyed.
"General Zhou, are you resting?" At this moment, a jailer pushed open the door and asked with a fawning smile, cautiously.
"Oh, I'm not asleep yet..." Zhou Fugui glanced at his cellmate and said, "Officer, what is it?"
"Ah, it's so late, disturbing General Zhou's sleep, I am truly sorry..." The jailer rubbed his hands and said, "However, General Zhou, someone is here to visit."
"Ah? Who is it again?" Zhou Fugui was stunned.
Speak of the devil, the cellmate was worried about no one visiting, and now someone had come to see Zhou Fugui. Zhou Fugui felt surprised, while the cellmate was beaming.
"Ah, I really dare not say. General Zhou, please come with me." The jailer replied.
"Oh..." Zhou Fugui nodded, stood up, and extended his hands.
"General Zhou, what are you doing?" the jailer asked.
"Shackles, what else?" Zhou Fugui retorted.
"General Zhou, are you trying to humiliate me, Old Zhang?" The jailer, named Zhang Laowu, said indignantly, "Who is General Zhou? He is a hero of our Great Yan Kingdom! How could he possibly be planning to escape? General Zhou, please come."
You won't escape even if you try, Zhang Laowu thought to himself.
It was widely known that Zhou Fugui was skilled in archery. However, at present, Zhou Fugui was unarmed, and Pijin City was heavily guarded, as solid as a rock. Not to mention Zhou Fugui escaping, even if more than ten thousand troops were to attack from the outside, they might not be able to break in.
The Pijin City Prison used shackles and other instruments of torture on prisoners, primarily to deter them and, secondarily, as a precaution.
At this time, Zhou Fugui was highly favored, especially... Secondly, Zhou Fugui had been behaving himself during this period and had shown no signs of attempting to escape, so there was no need to put him in restraints.
"Oh, thank you, officers," Zhou Fugui said, holding his head high as he walked out of the cell. Zhang Laowu and the other jailers followed him subserviently, as if they were servants attending a master...
"General Zhou, have you been eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well recently?"
"It's been alright, thank you officers for your care."
"It's nothing, General Zhou, if you have any requests in the future, just say so."
"Zhang Laowu, what nonsense are you talking about? What 'in the future'? General Zhou will be out of trouble soon."
"Precisely, precisely. General Zhou is like a hidden dragon. A dragon trapped at the bottom of a well will soar to the heavens once it breaks free!"
"That's right, that's right. General Zhou, please take care of us in the future."
"..."
As Zhou Fugui walked out of the cell, he glanced back at his cellmate.
"Hurry up, the more the better!" the cellmate waved.
In the eyes of the cellmate, Zhou Fugui was just a fat sheep or a large barrel of fine wine...
...
"It's you?"
The visitor was indeed a woman, the Grand Princess of the Great Yan Kingdom, Princess Jinglian Murong Xiaoxiao. Zhou Fugui was quite surprised and a little disappointed, "It's you?"
Previously, Zhou Fugui had guessed that Murong Huiying would visit, but he never expected it to be Murong Xiaoxiao.
"It's me..." Murong Xiaoxiao giggled and circled Zhou Fugui, "General Zhou, you look well. What's wrong? Are you disappointed to see this palace? Do you want to see Ziyue?"
"Your Highness, what are you talking about?" Zhou Fugui, no longer polite in front of this little girl, Princess Jinglian Murong Xiaoxiao, sat down directly and asked, "How is Ziyue?"
"You want to ask why she isn't here, right?" Murong Xiaoxiao sat beside Zhou Fugui and said, "She's been locked up by her father and can't leave."
"Locked up?" Zhou Fugui asked in shock, "Why?"
"What do you think?" Murong Xiaoxiao gave Zhou Fugui a sidelong glance and said, "She did everything for you, and yet you're here enjoying yourself."
"Enjoying myself? Oh dear, my Grand Princess!" Zhou Fugui chuckled wryly, shaking the coarse linen robe on his body, "Is this enjoying myself? Is there any such way of enjoying oneself in this world?"
"That's what you deserve!" Murong Xiaoxiao said, then curiously poked Zhou Fugui with her jade finger and asked, "They say you are a demon who kills people, is that true?"
After interacting with Zhou Fugui, Murong Xiaoxiao felt he was just like a big brother next door, warm and kind. However, he had personally killed over two hundred people, which made Murong Xiaoxiao both curious and a little disbelieving. And so on, but she didn't feel scared at all.
"Is Your Highness here to mock me?" Zhou Fugui asked unhappily.
"No..." Murong Xiaoxiao opened her beautiful eyes wide and looked at Zhou Fugui, "Why would I mock you? I'm here to see if I can help you get out of prison."
"You...?" Zhou Fugui suddenly felt a little apologetic towards this innocent and naive little girl. He sat down and sighed, "You can't."
Your father can, but will your father listen to you? Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
For such a major event, how could Emperor Murong Xi, the ruler of a nation, listen to the impulsive will of a young girl? The answer was no, even if she were his own daughter.
If it were Zhou Fugui, he wouldn't either.
"Zhou Fugui, why do you always look down on me?" Murong Xiaoxiao finally pushed Zhou Fugui angrily.
"Your Highness, what are you saying? Your Highness is the ruler, and I am a subject. How dare a subject look down on their ruler?" Zhou Fugui shook his head.
As Zhou Fugui said, the gap between them was tens of thousands of miles. Their identities and statuses were vastly different, so there was always something between them when they spoke.
"They are unwilling to talk to me, and you are unwilling too? They bully me, and you bully me too?" Murong Xiaoxiao's eyes reddened as she spoke, and she actually started to cry softly.
"Hey, Your Highness..." Murong Xiaoxiao was heartbroken, which made Zhou Fugui flustered and unsure of what to say. He glanced at the jailers who were peeking and said in a low voice.
Really, if anyone didn't know, they would think he had done something to her, Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"I still prefer it when you call me Xiaoxiao," Murong Xiaoxiao said, looking up at Zhou Fugui with red eyes.
"Oh, alright, Xiaoxiao, you say, with me like this, who else would I dare to bully?" Zhou Fugui coaxed in a low voice, "I am a man on the verge of death. Even if I wanted to talk to you in the future, it would be impossible."
"No, I won't let you die. At worst, I'll beg Father Emperor. After so many years, Xiaoxiao has never asked Father Emperor for anything," Murong Xiaoxiao said, looking at Zhou Fugui, "But... alas, Xiaoxiao can only do her best."
Murong Xiaoxiao was naive and innocent, but she was not foolish. She knew that military and state affairs were not something a young girl could control.
"Xiaoxiao..." Zhou Fugui was immediately a little touched, "If you really want to help me, why don't you...?"
"Why don't I what?" Murong Xiaoxiao asked.
"Come closer..." So Zhou Fugui whispered in Murong Xiaoxiao's ear, which made the peeking jailers gasp.
Can't clarify things with the Empress, and he's also entangled with her daughter? What kind of person is this Zhou Fugui? The jailers thought to themselves.
Murong Qing was Murong Xiaoxiao's mother.